Two genomic-based studies from Heart Healthy Lenoir were published in the last month. Heart Healthy Lenoir was a multidisciplinary research project that aimed to reduce cardiovascular disease in Lenoir County, North Carolina by developing new approaches to care, from prevention to treatment. The lead investigator of the Heart Healthy Lenoir genomics study is Jonathan Schisler, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and McAllister Heart Institute.

The UNC School of Medicine has selected Jen Jen Yeh, MD, professor and vice chair of research for the department of surgery, and joint professor of pharmacology, for one of two annual awards in honor of Oliver Smithies, UNC’s first Nobel Prize winner.

Published in Nature, research from the lab of Bryan L. Roth, MD, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology, revealed the first-ever crystal structure of the dopamine 2 receptor bound to an antipsychotic drug – a much-needed discovery in the quest to create effective drugs with fewer side effects to treat bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other conditions.

The lab of Jean Cook, PhD, joint professor in the department of pharmacology, found how a chain of proteins called an MCM complex could enable the fast cell-division that makes some forms of cancer so dangerous.

In a paper published in Cell, research led by Bryan Roth, MD, PhD, and Roth lab members, Tao Ch, PhD and Daniel Wacker, PhD, show how to activate only one kind of brain receptor vital for pain relief. This receptor is not involved in addiction or respiratory depression that leads to death – the most severe side effects of opioid use.

The center, established 20 years ago and led by Fulton Crews, PhD, Distinguished Professor in Pharmacology, will receive more than $8.7 million over five years to continue research on the effects of alcohol on the brain. Other pharmacology faculty who are PIs on the the grant are Clyde Hodge, PhD, Zoe McElligott, PhD, Tom Kash, PhD, Melissa Herman, PhD and Leslie Morrow, PhD.

In a new study published in Cell Stem Cell, UNC School of Medicine neuroscientist Juan Song and colleagues discovered a long-distance brain circuit that controls the production of new neurons in the hippocampus.

Brian Jensen, MD, assistant professor of medicine and pharmacology, delivered the 2017 Whitehead Lecture. The event, which serves as an unofficial convocation of the UNC School of Medicine, has been held annually since 1947.